The Cruellest Prison
by Holz9364
Summary: What happens when Lisbon goes from investigating a case to becoming one of the cases main victims? T for implied adult themes & minor violence.
1. Making Connections

**The Cruellest Prison**

_"The cruellest prison is the one that we build for ourselves out of fear and regret" - Warehouse 13_

**Summary : What happens when Lisbon becomes a victim of the case her team is investigating?**

**_A/N - This is a REALLY late birthday present for Laura, aka country2776! I didn't forget your birthday I swear! I started this before I left for Spain & I was hoping to get the first chapter up before your birthday, but I didn't have time so here it is! Hope you like it Laura! xx_**

"Alright team we have a triple homicide on our hands." Agent Teresa Lisbon announced as she walked into the bullpen holding a file in her hands.

The CBI team hadn't had a case in days so they all looked up eagerly at her words, she continued, "Three women were drugged last night at a hotel in Oakland, two of them died of an overdose and one is in a coma."

Rigsby frowned, "That's not the kind of crime we usually get."

Lisbon nodded, "I know, the drug and alcohol abuse unit usually takes these sort of cases, but this one is a little different."

"How so?" Jane asked from his couch, he still had his eyes shut and looked as relaxed as ever, without a glance in the mans direction Lisbon replied, "Most cases like this involve someone slipping the drugs discreetly to the victims, but in this case it appears that the drugs were forcefully given to the victims."

Sitting up, seeming more interested Jane said, "So they used the drugs to knock the women out?"

"It appears so." She confirmed, Van Pelts face darkened, "Which means-"

Lisbon nodded, finishing for her, "We might be dealing with a murderer and a rapist."

Van Pelt looked extremely dismayed by this news, Jane knew that she hated cases like this, he figured it had something to do with her past, but he hadn't had the nerve to ask her yet.

"I'll know if its sexual abuse just by looking at the bodies." Jane piped up as he stood up from the sofa, "So we're going to Oakland?"

Lisbon nodded, grabbing her jacket and making her way to the elevator with the team at her heels, "Yes we are, which means we have an hour and a half drive ahead of us."

Jane grinned, "I'm riding shotgun."

Rigsby and Van Pelt shared knowing looks, Lisbon groaned and Cho smirked, the next hour and a half could be amusing.

**An hour an a half later** a very amused Jane jumped out of the SUV along with a very disgruntled Lisbon, Jane had insisted on playing 'I Spy' the entire time and had gone in the huff when Lisbon had said that 'man with serious trust issues in a tractor' didn't count as an 'I Spy' sort of thing to point out.

So when they eventually reached the hotel it was a blessing, they flashed their badges and made their way to the first crime scene. It took Jane all of 5 minutes to make his decision on what had happened.

"Well she didn't get the drugs slipped to her, from the looks of it she was forced them and she put up a fight hence the blood and all, but her clothing is in tact and not rumpled which suggests she wasn't sexually assaulted." He mused to both himself and Lisbon who was watching him contently as he gave his judgement.

"So why would the murderer force her to take the drugs rather than slip them to her then?" She asked the all knowing pain in the ass with a frown.

Jane frowned slightly, looking closer at the body, "I think the murderer was afraid the drugs would be traceable if he slipped her them, if we found the glass with the traces on it we could get his fingerprints and catch him, whereas this way he wears gloves so we have no way of tracing him through DNA or forensics."

Lisbon had been nodding throughout his explanation and when he finished she smiled a little smugly, "Take that CSI." She muttered, Jane chuckled at her comment, Lisbon got really annoyed at the fact people thought solving a murder was easy because all you had do was 'get some fingerprints' like they did in CSI when there was much more to it than that.

"Why don't we check out the other body so you can look for any connections?" Lisbon asked and Jane nodded, "I think I know one already." He said as they left the women's hotel room and made their way along the hall to crime scene number 2.

Lisbon raised an eyebrow at him, disbelieving as always, "And that is?"

He shot her a sly grin, "I have a hunch that they are both secretly working for the government as some sort of protection to the state."

Lisbon frowned, "You mean like cops?"

Jane nodded, "Yup, the first victim works for the FBI."

"If she worked for the FBI do you not think the FBI would have put their own people on the case?" Lisbon asked, once again a little smugly, but Jane was already ahead of her in the game, "Not if they didn't want anyone to know she worked for them."

A look of realisation dawned on Lisbons face, "You think she was an undercover FBI Agent?" She asked, with a smug grin Jane nodded, "That's exactly what I think and if my hunch is correct victim number two is an undercover Agent for the Secret Service."

Lisbon eyed him sceptically as they walked into the second crime scene and after a moment of perusing the victims things he exclaimed, "a-ha!"

Lisbon looked at him sceptically again as he held up a blank metal square to her, he had found it in the victims pillowcase.

"Wow, a piece of metal." She said, feigning interest in the insignificant object.

Jane shook his head at her and held up a bag he had taken from the first crime scene with a piece of metal the exact same. Lisbon still didn't understand what he was getting at, "So they both have a bit of metal in their pillowcases, big deal."

"It is a big deal." Jane said as he bagged the metal square, "Because certain top secret agencies in the USA and in Canada give their Agents small pieces of metal like this with a tiny chip inside, the chip is highly protected and is a challenge for the worlds best hackers to get through the encoding."

Lisbons frown had deepened, "Whats on the chip?" She asked.

Jane eyes lit up and his smile widened, "Everything there is to know about the Agent, where they were born, when they joined whatever service they work for."

Seeing the significance now Lisbon caught on to Janes plan, "So now all we have to do is check if the third victim has one and if she does that means the murderer is drugging and killing government Agents?"

Jane nodded, "That's exactly what it means and I can bet you all the money in my bank it's because all of these Agents want this guy for something and that something will be listed in the chips, along with the name of the person they are pursuing."

Lisbon grinned, hurrying after Jane as they made their way up a flight of stairs to the third crime scene, "Well they were all in the hotel at the same time so they must be working together to catch one guy right? Or a group of people…" She mused.

"I think it's just one person, although he might have a few minions helping him on the technical side of things." Jane said and when he saw Lisbons confused look he added, "The hacking into government files part."

"Oh." Lisbon said, frowning a little, "So if the first victim was an FBI Agent and the second a Secret Service Agent, what is the 3rd?"

"My best bet...a Scientist." Jane told her as they reached the third crime scene, Jane made a beeline for the pillow and a moment later pulled out a third square of metal, identical to the first two, "Bingo." He said, shooting a grin her way.

Lisbons smiled at his enthusiasm, Jane was amusing to watch when he got excited about the things he was discovering, it was interesting to watch the cases mysteries unfold in his head, she could almost see the cogs turning as he made connection after connection.

"So we have the chips, the next problem is finding someone to get through the encoding on them." Lisbon pointed out and Janes smile faltered, "That could be the harder part." He admitted and Lisbon bit her lip, "We won't tell Hightower that." She decided as she smiled slyly at Jane, "We'll just go back and tell her how much progress we've made already."

Jane smiled at her, she could be sneaky when she wanted to be, but he found it amusing, "Of course, it will be our little secret."

Lisbon chuckled as they made their way back to the SUV to brief the rest of the team, "I bet Van Pelt could hack into the chips." Lisbon mused as they made their way down the stairs and past the first two crime scenes.

Jane shrugged, "I doubt it, Grace is good at getting minor information, but we're talking the highest level of security knowing to mankind here, there will be all sorts of firewalls and viruses to get past."

"That sounds bad." Lisbon pointed out causing Jane to smile slightly, "It is, but I think I might know someone who can do it."

"And that person is?" Lisbon asked when Jane didn't speak for a few minutes.

With a grin at his boss he replied, "Cho."

Lisbon frowned, "Cho? If Van Pelt can't do it how can Cho?" She asked, the line between her eyes appearing again.

"Did Cho never tell you that he used to work for the Secret Service?" Jane asked, seeming genuinely shocked, but behind it a little smug.

"No, he never." Lisbon mumbled, seeming annoyed that Jane knew this about the man and she never when she was his boss, "It's not in his file." She commented and Jane laughed lightly, "It's called the Secret Service for a reason my dear."

"Shut up wise ass."

**To Be Continued!**

**A/N - Sooo…I'm not sure about this! Aghh I think it turned out better than I thought it would, but I also think it could be better… if that makes sense! Let me know what you think! **

**Oh and for those of you who read my other fic 'Life Goes On' I swear I haven't given up on it, but I'm going to try and update this too which means updates for this fic and 'Life Goes On' will be much less frequent, but don't worry I will finish 'Life Goes On'!  
**

**Thanks for Reading! x**


	2. Grace's Discovery

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 2 - Grace's Discovery**

It was 4am on Sunday morning and the entire CBI team were still in the bullpen. They hadn't gone home since Jane and Lisbon had brought the chips back late on Friday afternoon. Lisbon had taken to falling asleep in half hour time slots on Janes couch and for once he willingly shared it.

Rigsby spent most of his time with his head on his desk snoring and the rest of his time eating. Grace and Cho had slept in shifts, trying to get through the encoding on the chips; they were working their butts off to get this lead.

The sun was just beginning to rise as Lisbon felt herself start to drift off, her eyes slid shut and she found herself in that dreamlike state somewhere in between being awake and being asleep. She could hear people speaking, but wasn't taking in what they were saying.

Then Graces excited voice jerked her fully awake and into the real world.

"I got it!"

Cho who had been having a short nap by his desk was on his feet right away, looking over the files on the chip, "We're in Boss." He said and Lisbon sighed in relief, that was the best news she had gotten all weekend

"We should wake Jane." Grace whispered, Lisbon nodded, she kicked the couch, "Wake up Jane!"

Grace chuckled as he sat up frowning, Lisbon rolled her eyes, "We're into the chip."

Just like the others hearing this news made him feel wide awake and he made his way over to where the four Agents were standing by the computer.

Cho pulled up the first file, "The first victim is really called Shakira Azar, she's from Spain, she's not even American."

Jane nodded, "They are usually the best Agents, the ones that aren't even American." He looked closer at the screen, "Yup, I was right she's an undercover FBI Agent, born in Torremolinos, Spain, age 32, Meh I was close I thought she was in her late 20's."

Lisbon was smirking, "Well would you look at that, even the great Patrick Jane gets it wrong sometimes."

Jane ignored this comment, "Click on the next victim's case file Cho."

Cho did as Jane said and Grace read out the woman's information, "Susie Slessor, aged 24, born in East Sussex, England. So she's not American either. Undercover Secret Service Agent from the age of 19, wow."

Jane smirked at Lisbon, "I may get it wrong occasionally Lisbon, but most of the time I hit the nail on the head."

She rolled her eyes at the smug man, "Bring up the 3rd victims file." She told Cho.

She leant forward to get a better look at the screen as the information loaded up, "Kara Jacobs, born in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A so at least we know that one of them was American. She was 26 and she was a Scientist for the government." She said, rolling her eyes as Jane shot her his 'Told ya so' look.

"Look at this Boss, they all have one thing in common. In the section where it says, last assignment, on every one it says Area 51."

Lisbon frowned, "So you think the murderer is trying to find something in there? Or prove a point? I mean Area 51 is like impossible to get into."

Grace nodded, "I know, which is what I don't get." She asked Cho if she could check something and she pulled up a few more files until she found what she was looking for.

"Bingo." She said, "All three of them were working together to find a guy called Cody Simpson, he's 25 years old and they are looking for him because…" She trailed off as she zoomed into the document, "He tried to assassinate the president."

Lisbons eyes widened, "But he got away? How did they not catch him?"

"It says here that he is nicknamed the mole, he has secret tunnels everywhere and he escaped through one, no one has seen him since. He's on America's most wanted criminals list." She scrolled down the page, "Wow, he's actually number 2 which means he's not dangerous enough to top Red John, but he's still-"

"Really dangerous." Lisbon finished for her and Grace nodded, "Yeah."

Jane hmm-ed, "So how are we going to go about finding him?"

Grace answered his question by pulling up a map on the screen, "It seems like our victims have already done that for us." She said, "They have some sort of tracking device on him, he obviously doesn't know its there or he would have gotten rid of it."

Lisbon frowned, "How did they get close enough to put a tracking device on him, but not close enough to arrest him?"

Grace smiled, "They worked in area 51, they used these alien tracking devices, all you need is a tiny bit of DNA and they find that person and attach themselves, Simpson must have cut himself on something in his rush to leave because they had a tiny sample of his blood on the concrete."

Lisbon nodded, she seemed impressed, "Nice work Van Pelt, I would recommend you for the FBI, but I don't want to lose such a good Agent."

Grace grinned proudly at her, "Thanks Boss."

"So where is Cody Simpson?" Lisbon asked, back into Boss mode.

"Well according to the tracker he is nowhere at the moment." Grace admitted.

Lisbon raised an eyebrow, "I thought you said he didn't know the tracker was there."

"He doesn't." Grace assured her, "The tracker's safety is still green which means it's still online and attached to its host."

"So expand the search parameters to outside of California." Rigsby suggested, but Grace shook her head, "I've done that, he's nowhere in the world."

"So he's dead?" Rigsby asked.

Once again Grace shook her head, "No, if he was dead the tracker would be offline, when its host dies it self destructs."

"Nasty." Jane muttered and Grace smiled slightly, "I think he's offline to us right now because there is too much static around him."

When this was met by puzzled looks Grace elaborated, "If he's very far underground and/or surrounded by a lot of technical equipment the static will mess with the trackers signal."

Lisbon bit her lip, "So all we can do is wait for him to come into the open?"

Grace nodded, "Yeah, but when he does we should be able to determine where he is and by looking at a Geographic map establish if he could have a possible underground base there."

Jane looked impressed, "Well Grace I must admit I didn't think you would go far when I first met you, but at this rate you'll be a regular on the latest series of CSI."

Lisbon made a face and Jane grinned, "You really hate that show don't you?"

Grace smiled at her Boss, "I'm not a big fan of it either, it makes everyone think that as cops all we have to do is find some fingerprints and that's it, case solved, it's not like that at all in the real world of law enforcement."

Lisbon grinned smugly at Jane, "What Van Pelt said, smart ass."

Grace tried not to roll her eyes at their exchange, "Anyway we'll know when the tracker gets signal because the computer will beep really loudly, we'll have to make sure that someone is awake at all times so that if he comes out they will be able to-"

She stopped talking when the computer beeped loudly, Grace turned to the screen straight away, but as soon as she had the screen went black and red letters flashed up on it.

"YOU. WILL. PAY."

Grace turned to the others in horror, Rigsby looked just as horror-stricken, Lisbon looked shocked, Jane looked thoughtful and even Cho looked a bit anxious.

**To Be Continued!**

**A/N - Oooh who will pay? And what is the price? Mwahaha.**

**I'll try and update this quite fast, its gonna have around 15 chapters I reckon.**


	3. Breaking Through & Breaking Apart

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 3 - Breaking Through & Breaking Apart**

**_A/N - Again didn't really have time to check this, but i really wanted to get it up on so sorry for any mistakes guys! Hope you enjoy this chap and sorry for the wait! xx_**

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Grace turned her wide eyed stare to her Boss, Lisbon shrugged, "It's an empty threat." She said calmly, "Let's carry on with the case."

Graces eyes almost popped out of her head at her boss's words, "Carry on with the case? Lisbon some crazy criminal just threatened us, a crazy criminal even the FBI couldn't catch!"

Lisbon stared her down, "We are not the FBI Van Pelt!" She snapped, "And I won't let some computer geek stop me from doing my job, we are going to carry on with this case, alright?"

Grace stood her ground, standing up, "No."

Lisbons eyes flashed, "No?"

Grace nodded, "No, I will not carry on with this case."

Lisbon looked like she might explode with frustration, "I am in charge Agent Van Pelt! You either do as I say or I fire you."

Graces eyes widened as did the rest of the team and after a moment of glaring at each other Lisbon sighed, "Grace, please don't do this, it's an empty threat alright? It's nothing to be afraid of."

Jane nodded, feeling it was now safe to speak, "This sort of thing happens all the time with the police Grace." He comforted the almost hysterical woman.

Lisbon eyed her sympathetically, she remembered how it felt to get your first death threat on the job, it was scary, but you had to remember that almost all of the time the threats were empty.

"He was in Nevada." Grace whispered, causing everyone's heads to snap up and all eyes to turn on her. She shrugged, a little nervous under all the pressure, "All I saw before the message came up was Nevada."

Lisbon nodded, "Thank you Grace." She said gently to the Agent before turning to her team, "Alright guys I want you to stay here with Grace, make sure nothing else happens and if anything does tell us straight away."

Rigsby was instantly by Graces side and Cho just nodded, "No problem, where are you going boss?"

Jane jumped up, "Yeah, where are we going Lisbon?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes, "Jane and I are going back to the crime scenes, the victim's families have just arrived and we need to question them."

"Alright, good luck."

Lisbon nodded, "Thanks." she stepped forward and whispered, "Look after Van Pelt."

Cho didn't smile, but they could see the amusement twinkling in his eyes as he glanced over at Grace and Rigsby, the agents arm was wrapped around the woman as he whispered words of comfort to her, "I don't think that will be an issue."

Lisbon smiled, "I think you're right, see you soon Cho."

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Jane managed to restrain himself from saying something disrespectful for a whole 3 hours of questioning and he did it because Lisbon had asked him, she has specifically asked, well begged that he play it down because of the nature of the case and he had so naturally he was feeling pretty proud when he and his lovely boss walked away from the last family member of victim number 3.

Lisbon noticed, "Yes Jane, I am very proud of your behaviour, I think it's safe to take you on excursions now." She teased.

Jane grinned at her, "Whatever you say ma'am."

Lisbons cheeks tinged a slight pink, "So what do you think about the family members?"

Jane sighed, "They were all easy to read which is the bad thing because I know that none of them had any idea about all of this, not even that their kids were undercover Agents, they aren't going to be any help to us at all."

Lisbon glared at him, "So you just watched me waste 3 hours?"

Jane chuckled, "Pretty much."

"God help me." She muttered and Jane smirked, "Ah Lisbon, what kind of Christian are you? Only turning to your Lord when you need help!" He was teasing, but it earned him another glare. It was alright though, for the moment he was safely sitting at glare number 2, when Lisbon reached glare level 10 he knew it was time to run for the hills.

"So what next?" Jane asked as they reached the hotels reception, glancing at her watch Lisbon replied, "I'm going to go and interview the staff, apparently victim # 2 was seen flirting with one of the kitchen guys, wanna come?"

Jane shrugged, "Sounds awfully boring, I think I'll go find some good tea." He glanced around, seeing a café, with a grin he bid her goodbye and she walked away with an amused smile on her face.

In weeks to come after that moment in the reception Patrick Jane would regret not accompanying his boss to the kitchens.

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It had been an hour since Lisbon had gone to question the kitchen staff and Jane had begun to worry about where she could be and if she was safe. Just to make sure that his paranoia really was silly and uncalled for he went to the kitchens. When he got there however the chef told him that Lisbon had left about half an hour ago.

Immediately freaking out Jane ran aimlessly through the hotel calling her cell shouting her name, "LISBON!" he yelled as he ran along the floor where the first and second murder had happened, but there was nothing so he ran up another flight of stairs.

"LISBON!" he yelled as he ran along the floor of the 3rd murder, but there was still nothing. Stopping for breath he tried to call her cell for what felt like the hundredth time, before there had been no answer. However this time someone answered, it just wasn't Lisbon.

A sweet high-pitched voice spoke, the kind you heard on radio commercials or in an airport as the air hostess announced your flight was boarding. The sweet voice didn't go with the cold message that it delivered through the phone line, the message that made his blood run cold with fear.

"Sorry I can't make it to the phone right now, I'm about to die of a drug overdose."

Jan immediately knew what he had to do and he ran up to the next floor, his feet taking him to room number 210, the number of Lisbons apartment back in Sacramento…just like the other victims.

He barged into the room to find a horrible scene, there was no blood, but that somehow made it worse. Lisbon was lying pale on the floor, her phone lying on the bed near her, she was alone in the room, barely alive.

In a state of complete fear and panic Jane called 911 and knelt down by Lisbons side, he gripped her cold hand tightly, "Please don't leave me Teresa, I can't lose you, you're all I have." He prayed that she would be okay, he prayed she would live as he waited for the ambulance.

Jane had loved and lost many people in his life, Teresa Lisbon was one of the people that he loved, but there was no way he would let her be one of the ways that he would lose, he would do anything to save her, he would die to save her, he had told her that and she had laughed, but it was true.

The reason for this desire to protect her, to save her, it was to keep her alive so that he would never have to lose her, if she died he wasn't sure how or if he would cope, but he had a feeling he would be in for a long stay in a mental hospital, not for the first time either.

"Excuse me sir, we need to get her to an ambulance."

Jane had been so caught up in himself that he hadn't noticed the paramedics rush in, reluctantly he let go of Lisbons hand and followed the paramedics downstairs as they put Lisbons limp form on a gurney.

He climbed into the ambulance with them and was glad when they didn't protest, "It's a drug overdose." Jane breathed, feeling tears sticking on his face, "She's the 4th victim of this new serial killer."

The paramedic thanked him for the information and immediately began shouting orders, the team pumped Lisbon full of all sorts of drugs and by the time they reached the hospital 10 minutes later Jane was relieved to see that she was no longer deathly pale.

The paramedics told him to sit down and said they would give him news when they had it.

Jane sank down against the cold white hospital wall, still in shock, seeing her like that had been like seeing his wife all over again. Lisbon had been pale as death, she looked like his wife had looked when she was dead, but Lisbon wasn't dead, she was alive which meant there was still hope, even if it was only a little.

**To Be Continued!**

**A/N - So sorry that it took me so long to update! I've been really busy with school, but I finally had a free moment so here is the result ;D**

**In the next chapter things get even MORE dramatic!**

**Thanks for reading! xxx**


	4. Crash & Burn

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 4 - Crash & Burn**

_**A/N - Oh my gosh guys I am SO sorry that this took so long! I don't want to bore you with excuses, but… I was finishing off my other fic 'The Price You Pay For Love' which I finally finished :D. I'm also going through the long, stressful process of applying for university at the moment so that's taking up a lot of time, but I want to get this finished before October so fingers crossed!**_

_**Hope you like this chapter! :D**_

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Patrick Jane had been numb for years after his wife died, he had gotten used to feeling numb, it had been the way he lived for so long that he had been shocked when he began to really feel again.

When he had been a young boy he had gone to hospital to have an operation and he had been given an anaesthetic. He remembered waking up and seeing the world, he could see it, but he couldn't think about it, at least not clearly, his mind had been foggy. He also couldn't sit up or talk straight away, he couldn't move, talk or understands thing properly, he had been numb. Then after a few hours he had begun to feel his toes again and then his legs and slowly the feeling returned to his whole body and he could see the world properly again.

Now as he sat in a cold, hard, white chair in the waiting room of a hospital that smelled too clean Jane realised how significant that experience really was.

When Jane had walked into his Malibu home and found his wife and daughter dead he had felt great pain, that part was like the operation. He had then woken up feeling numb, he watched the world, but he couldn't become a part of the happiness of it. For years, rather than hours he lived his life feeling this numb aching loneliness and then things had started to change.

The day that Patrick Jane first met Teresa Lisbon he felt the feeling return to his toes and when she had first smiled a real smile at a joke he made Jane felt the feeling grow and return to his legs. As he spent time with her she made him feel again, she made him alive, he was no longer numb and because of that he could see the world the way it should be seen, he could see the happiness as well as the sadness now. And he had Teresa Lisbon to thank for all of that.

The ironic thing was that as he sat here, eyes wide, feeling terrified and shocked after discovering these feelings for Teresa Lisbon the woman in question was in a critical condition.

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"Sir! Sir! We need you to leave!"

Jane didn't listen as a doctor tried to shoo him away, his eyes were fixed on Lisbon who was frail and weak looking as Doctors tried to stabilise her. Her cheeks were no longer pink tinged, she looked gaunt, her body was limp. She didn't look like the strong Agent that she was and that brought Jane to tears.

He watched as the doctors put tubes in her and attached wires to her body. He flinched as they shocked her, trying to make her heartbeat more stable. He winced as they pumped her with other drugs to try and keep her alive. And then he almost died inside when the almost flat line on the screen went completely flat.

Jane stared through the glass as Doctors yelled orders, putting more drugs into her and hitting her with the paddles again to start her heart. One shock, nothing. Jane felt his own heart stop. Two shocks, Nothing. Jane couldn't breathe. Three Shocks, "She's back!" Jane felt his chest relax and he was able to breathe again. She was alive, but everything was still very much touch and go.

He didn't know how long he had been standing there for when he was told that he had to move, a kind Nurse came over and took him by the arm, "Sir, we need you to leave, the Doctors are trying to help her, but they can't do their job if you are getting in the way."

In his heart Jane knew she was right so he allowed her to lead him into a small waiting room and give him a concerned smile as she went away to get him some water.

He sat there for what felt like hours, brooding, thinking about his past, realising that he was in love with Teresa Lisbon. It must have been about an hour after the accident when the doors to the waiting room flew open and 3 very worried people rushed in.

Grace looked frantic as she hurried over to Jane, and (to both Jane's and Rigsby's surprise) wrapped her arms around the blonde man. Jane's eyes widened a little, but he hugged Grace back. As she hugged him she whispered, "Did you get a chance to tell her?"

Jane's heart jumped at her words, he and Grace had a little secret that the other 3 Agents had no idea about. Only Grace knew that Jane talked in his sleep and during one late night at the office he had drifted off and mumbled something he hadn't wanted anyone to hear. Grace had heard and had made him promise something to her, he had smiled and agreed, hoping he would never have to actually do it.

Jane swallowed, "No." He whispered back, disappointment, regret and anger all seeping into his voice.

Grace pulled away from him and frowned, "Why not?"

Jane shook his head, "She looked so much like my wife…she was just limp and cold and-" His voice hitched, "She looked dead." His voice broke and he quickly tried to cover up the few tears that fell.

Cho and Rigsby pretended not to notice, but Grace wrapped her arms around Jane again, "Oh Jane, I'm so sorry." She whispered and he let her hug him, revelling in the human comfort.

Grace then stood up, a fire burning in her eyes, "We are going to find this guy and make sure he spends his life rotting in prison." She stated.

Jane smiled a little at Graces motivation, she was fiery young woman and would make an excellent senior Agent one day. This thought turned into thoughts of what if Lisbon died? Who would be their Boss? And these thoughts made it hard to breathe so he quickly pushed them away.

"We can't yet though." Grace added, sitting herself down next to Jane, "Not until we know she's okay."

Silently Rigsby and Cho agreed, sitting down on a hospital seat, preparing themselves for a long, painful wait.

None of them spoke for the next hour or so, they all sat in silence, comfortable silence, all of them too upset or worried to even think about formulating a sentence.

The silence was broken when a cell phone rang, Janes cell phone. On autopilot Jane nearly answered it straight away, it was usually Lisbon calling him and he didn't even check the caller ID.

However he remembered suddenly that it couldn't be Lisbon because she was dying and that thought knocked the air out of him, like someone had kicked him in the stomach.

Giving himself a quick moment to recover he answered his cell, "Jane." He said, dully and without emotion, not in his usual cheery tone.

"Where are you Patrick?" Hightower asked, she sounded pissed, but that was nothing new.

"At the hospital."

"Well get back to work, sitting around the hospital isn't going to make Lisbon heal faster." Hightower said, seeming not to care at all about the fact that Lisbon might not die.

Something sparked in Jane's eyes, something the team had only ever seen when Red John made an appearance. It was more than anger, it was a burning hatred.

"She's not ill, she's dying, I'm not leaving to work only to return here to find that she died." He practically hissed down the phone.

"Patrick, listen to me. Sitting around the hospital isn't going to help anyone." Hightower said, trying to sound understanding, but failing.

"Do you think that bull crap will work on me or the team? We aren't leaving until we know that she's alright."

At this point Jane was relatively calm, but then Hightower went and got under his skin and hit his weak spot.

"I know your in love with her Patrick and she with you, the last thing I want to do is fire her the moment she wakes up."

The hatred sparked in Janes eyes again, he stood up, looking furious, "If you even threaten to fire her I will leave! I'll quit and never come back and you can find a new golden boy because she is the most important thing in the world to the team!"

"To the team or to you?"

"Both!"

Graces eyes widened in shock at this, Cho raised an eyebrow and Rigsby gaped.

Hightower made a scoffing noise, "So you are admitting that you are in love with her?"

"So what if I'm in love with her? I'm a consultant its not against the rules, you can't fire her for that."

"Are you in a relationship with Lisbon?"

"No."

"Alright Jane, I am ordering you and the team to leave the hospital right now."

Jane stood his ground and the team were proud of him for it, "No."

Hightower sighed, "Then I will have to suspend you."

Jane shook his head, vehemently, "Oh no you won't because I quit." Angrily he hung up and began to pace to get rid of his pent up energy.

Watching in concern, Grace bit her lip and walked over to him, he flinched when she placed her hand on his arm, but he let her lead him over to his seat and although he sat back down he didn't sit at ease.

How could he possibly sit at ease when his mind wasn't at ease? The only thing that could put his mind at ease now was seeing Lisbon alive and well.

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N - Sorry it isn't that long, but I promise I will try and update more often now!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D**

**Thanks for Reading! xxx**


	5. Cold Turkey

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 5 - Cold Turkey**

_**A/N - Woo! Two updates in one night ;D Now am I nice or what? Hope you all enjoy this chappy!**_

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to die? Were you brought up believing that if you overcame your sins you would go to Heaven and if not you would burn in Hell for eternity? Do you believe in the afterlife? Do you think that after death you float around in nothing-ness forever? Or do you simply have no opinion on death?

I went to Sunday school since I was 3 years old and a memory that sticks in my mind was when they asked us to draw pictures of what we imagined God to look like. At the age of 4 years old I handed in a blank page, my reason being that no one knew what God looked like, so how could we possibly imagine him? My Sunday school teacher was amazed and when I went home I remember my mother telling me off for being cheeky and my father laughing.

So when the world went crazy around me I found myself remembering the little things in a rush. Everything went black and I was in the past. I remembered the church I grew up in. I remembered every Sunday I sat in the church with my mother and father. I remembered the day my mother died, the same day my father turned his back on God. I remember having my sanctuary in that church. I remembered crying there, asking God to help me, praying to God that he would help me get through the difficulties. I remembered attending two funerals at that church, my mothers was first and the church was full of people crying that day. My fathers came 2 years later and the church was empty, only myself and my 3 brothers attended the service, our voices echoed eerily around the empty room, there were no tears that day.

Images flashed before my eyes, the day I had to quit school to become a full-time carer to my brothers, the day Tommy broke his leg and I cried for hours. The day the boys started school, the day they left home.

I remembered the first time I worked with the police. The first time I met Sam Bosco. The first time I felt a strong feeling spark inside of me as he smiled my way from across the office. My thoughts strayed to the sordid love affair I had with my married mentor, late nights in his office when the rest of the building were at home, sneaky glances across crime scenes.

Then the images changed again to the day I met Virgil Minnelli, my new boss at the CBI, top crime-fighting Agency in California. I remembered bursting with pride as I called Tommy to tell him the news. I remembered my first case, the day I met my new team-mates, Cho and Rigsby. The day two new additions came along, Van Pelt and Jane.

The day I met Jane flashed before my eyes. I remembered looking into his eyes and being mesmerised, I remembered taking in every detail of his face and wondering how he could look so perfect. I remembered him teasing me and saying he knew what I was thinking. I remembered how he winked and walked away, leaving me blushing furiously in his wake.

More flashes came after that, little things that stuck out as big moments in my life. The day Jane told me the truth about Sophie Miller, the day he saved my life, the day he told me he would always save me. As these thoughts rushed through my brain at an amazingly high speed I shockingly realised that I had been in love with the insufferable man since the moment that he had first smiled and winked at me.

This revelation sent a shock through my body and the next thing I knew I was floating above myself. Watching as Doctors rushed around shouting medical terms to each other, trying to re-start my heart. I watched in horror as I saw Jane standing outside of the room, staring at the scene in horror, tears slipping down his face that he didn't seem to notice were there.

The world began to fade away and I was suddenly floating through a tunnel of bright white light. As I made my way along this tunnel I passed familiar faces, my grandma, my papa, my father, Bosco and at the end of the tunnel, smiling at me, was my mother.

I reached the end and was standing on my feet again, my mother touched my face and her hand was warm, not icy cold as I had been expecting.

"Teresa sweetie, it isn't your time to join us yet." She whispered, "You have a sweet man who loves you and a great life ahead of you, wake up darling." She said, smiling, but with a determined look in her eye. A look that I knew I myself got often.

"Can you do that darling?" She asked me and I nodded weakly, I closed my eyes and thought hard, willing myself to wake up, telling myself I had to see Jane again, I had to tell him how I felt.

It must have worked because the next thing I heard was lots of beeping and shouting and I felt a hell of a lot of pain.

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A grim looking Doctor walked into the waiting room, causing the team to jump up immediately.

"Is she alive?" Jane asked frantically.

The man nodded, "Yes,-" Before he could continue Jane let out a sigh of relief, she wasn't dead which meant there was still hope, even if it was a small amount of hope.

The Doctor continued, with his grim news, "But she isn't out of the woods, not by a longshot."

The relief Jane had felt vanished, "What do you mean?" He asked.

The Doctor sighed, "The only way we can save Agent Lisbon is by the 'cold turkey' method as you call it, it's going to be painful for her to go through and for you to watch."

Jane's eyes filled with pain at the idea of having to watch Lisbon in pain, the team knew that if he had the choice he would switch places with her so she wouldn't have to be in pain, he would rather be in pain that watch her in pain, they all knew that.

"Can't you wean her off the drugs?" Rigsby asked the Doctor, who shook his head, "A lot of the time we can, but not in this instance. The drug overdose was very severe and there is an 80% chance that trying to wean her off would kill her instead of help her."

"Whats the percentage with the other method?" Cho asked, a hint of worry seeping into his voice, the fact that his perfect calm façade was broken showed the others how serious this situation really was.

The Doctors expression darkened, "I'm not going to sugar-coat it for you, this is very risky and very irregular, but we think that there is a 65% chance that she will completely recover so long as she is constantly monitored."

The others nodded, taking this information in, but Janes mind was too busy to even think about statistics at the moment. It was buzzing with activity, she was alive, but she might die. She had died on him once before, he didn't know if he could survive it if she died again.

**To Be Continued**

**A/N - I know this chapter is also quite short, but at least you got two chapters :D I neglected my schoolwork, I should have been studying for my RME test tomorrow, but I wrote this because I just love you guys that much :P**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading! xxx**


	6. Kicking & Screaming

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 6 - Kicking & Screaming**

**A/N- I am SO sorry that I haven't updated in like months! I've just started my final year of school and am in the very stressful process of applying for university, its tough and the competition this year is worse than ever so I had no time, but I promise to try and update faster! Thanks for waiting so long for an update guys, your awesome!**

**Warning…this chapter portrays a very depressed/suicidal Jane so if that upsets you then it might be best to not read.**

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He didn't know what to expect as he walked along the white corridor. The Doctor had agreed to let Jane see Lisbon, but he said that it would be very upsetting for him. Jane being Jane didn't listen; he thought he could handle it.

It wasn't until he stood outside of her room and looked at her through the glass that he realised he couldn't handle it at all.

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I stood and looked through the glass at the person in that room. That person, that woman wasn't my Teresa, it simply couldn't be.

She was in restraints; they were on her legs and arms and held her down to the bed. She was writhing, kicking and screaming in pain, she couldn't be Teresa.

In shock I walked forward and placed my hand on the glass, I looked closer and my heart sank when I saw her features and realised that it was indeed Teresa Lisbon. The notoriously strong Teresa Lisbon was reduced to a wreck.

I couldn't quite believe my eyes, I guess it was because I didn't want too, but looking at her when she was in that much pain made me hurt.

I heard the Doctor speaking to me, but I didn't take my eyes off of her, "There is nothing we can do for her now I'm afraid. We can't even sedate her because it could mix with the drugs and cause a fatal reaction."

I nodded, not looking at the man, but I could tell he was giving me one of those sympathetic looks that I really hate. I watched as nurses bustled around Lisbon, not bothered by her cold, blood-curdling screams.

I was aware of the rest of the team behind me, watching the scene with pain filled eyes.

The Doctor spoke again, to us all this time, "She's not going to improve, it's better if you go home tonight and come back in the morning."

I was aware of the others agreeing and mumbling their goodbyes, but I refused to leave. I looked at her one last time and our eyes met, in that moment I saw her real pain, I saw how much pain was in those eyes, both physically and mentally she was going through hell.

Unable to watch anymore I sat down in a seat outside of her room, closing my eyes as the silence was occasionally filled with Lisbons horrible screams.

Every scream sent a memory shooting through my mind. I didn't know if she would make it and I found myself remembering the first time I met her, how her warm smile made me feel ecstatic. I smiled softly to myself as I remembered all the times I wound her up to the point that she slammed a door in my face or threw a stapler at me. It was the little things like that I remembered, the little things that made me fall so hard for her.

I sighed and tried to rid my nose of the smell of the hospital, it smelled too fresh, too clean. I hated hospitals, with a passion really. My last glimpse of my wife and daughter was at a hospital, but before that I had happy memories of hospitals. I didn't mind them as a kid and when my beautiful daughter was born in one I warmed to them, until she was taken away from me in a hospital.

They were the start and the end of life really, hospitals. Life began in a hospital and a lot of the time it ended there too.

Lisbon screamed again and for the first time I realised that Lisbon was hurt, I panicked, and I mean really panicked. Up until now I had been numb, not thinking about consequences or outcomes, just praying that Lisbon would pull through, but now as the numb feeling began to fade I didn't know what to do.

I honestly couldn't imagine my life without Teresa Lisbon in it. I couldn't go to work and look at her empty office, I couldn't solve cases without her by my side, I needed her, so much more than she knew.

Realising that this was it, she might not live past this day or this week scared me to death and without actually noticing I began to cry. I was thankful that the corridor was deserted as years of pent up frustration and bottled up emotions all spilled out through my tears.

I didn't know what to do, I didn't have a plan and that really threw me. I pride myself on being prepared for everything and anything so being unprepared for something was a rare occurrence.

I listened as the screams went on, still horrible, still making me shiver, I must have looked crazy to any doctors or nurses passing by, but in that moment I didn't care because I had just realised that I was in love with the amazing, stubborn, beautiful woman in that room and ironically I had a feeling I was about to lose her.

I have a habit to distance myself from the ones I care about the most, ever since I lost my wife and child I'm afraid to let anyone in, I'm scared that if I do they will suffer the same fate. Somehow Teresa Lisbon had caught me off guard and slipped into my heart without me realising, so much made sense now and I could block out her screams and see things clearly for the first time in a long time.

People have told me that I have changed, that I'm different, ever since I lost my family I have heard those words, but I have changed, when I met Teresa Lisbon I changed. She taught me that there are more important things in the world that revenge, like love. She made me see that my wife and daughter wouldn't want me to become a cold blooded killer, to stoop to Red Johns level. She has changed me in so many ways.

And as I sit here, alone in this cold, white room, the sounds of pain and suffering all around me I feel that I have peace of mind, just for one second I'm Patrick Jane, the man who suffered a tragic loss, but brought the man who caused it to justice, the right way and I walk out of the trial hand in hand with Teresa Lisbon, my saviour.

The thought makes me smile and I decide in that moment to change my ways, the reason for this is clear to anyone who knows me well, Teresa Lisbon.

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**To Be Continued! Xx**

**A/N - Again I am SO sorry about the wait and that this chapter is short, but I will try & update more regularly because I love you guys! **

**In Chapter 7 .. Going cold turkey really starts to affect Lisbon's mind & some of her delusional thoughts hit Jane hard.**

**Thanks for Reading! xx**


	7. Addicted to You

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 7 - Addicted to You**

**A/N - Two chaps in one night to make up for my shocking lack of updates! Hope you enjoy!**

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"Mr Jane." A woman's voice pulled him from his trance-like state and he looked up, there was a young blonde nurse standing over him, "Miss Lisbon is a little better now." She informed him in a sweet, innocent tone.

This immediately made Jane fully alert and he stood up far too fast, making himself feel slightly dizzy, "Can I see her?" He asked hopefully.

The blonde Nurse nodded and smiled, "Yes, but I must warn you that if you aggravate her in any way she may lash out as an effect of her condition, for your safety and her own she's in restraints to stop her from leaving the bed.

Jane nodded, bracing himself for having to see his strong boss in such a weak, compromised state, "I won't aggravate her." He said quietly and with a soft, sympathetic glance at him the blonde nurse opened the door to Lisbon's room, "I'll be right outside if you need anything Mr Jane." She said before motioning for him to enter the room.

Jane entered the room slowly, taking in the sight of Lisbon restrained to the bed, tossing and turning. She turned to face him when the door opened, her eyes were wide and bloodshot and her face was deathly pale, she looked haunted.

"Jane." She croaked when her eyes met his.

He tried his best to give her a small smile, but the tears in his eyes probably gave the act away, "I'm here Lisbon." He said quietly as he stood by her bed.

She shook her head, "I want you to leave, I don't want you to see me like this." She said, getting agitated and convulsing. Jane watched in horror, knowing all he could do was wait for it to stop.

When it did Jane grabbed her hand, "I don't care how you look Teresa, I'm here for you, I promised you that I would always be there for you and I meant it, I care about you."

"No." Lisbon said, thrashing and trying to break the restraints, "No, no, no, no." She kept saying.

"Yes." Jane said quietly, "I care about you so much more than you know."

"NO!" Lisbon said, "You've never cared about me! You hate me, you want to kill me, you want me dead, you wish I had never screwed up your already screwed up life! Your trying to kill me!" She screamed, convulsing and thrashing again.

Jane stood up and stared at her in horror.

"Teresa, why would I want to kill you?" He asked, quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

Her eyes were wide and manic now, "You're afraid because you don't want me to ruin your little plan, don't think I don't know that your going to kill me when the right time comes!"

"I'm not going to kill you Teresa." Jane said, trying to soothe the woman.

"Yes you are! When I catch you and ruin your plan!"

"What plan?" Jane asked, now completely confused as to what she was going on about in her half-sane state.

"Your plan to kill Red John. I'm not going to let you kill Red John, and you're going to kill me when I try to stop you! Nothing matters to you apart from Red John and your pathetic little revenge plan! You don't give a damn about anyone else, you don't give a damn about ME!" Lisbon screamed, tears streaming down her face, her eyes still wide and crazy.

Jane stared at her in complete shock, he knew she wasn't completely sane at the moment, but to hear words like that come out of her mouth of all people…he bit his lip in annoyance as he felt tears slide down his own face, matching hers.

"How could you think that?" He asked, not in anger, but with hurt brimming in his voice, "So many things in this world are more important than Red John and revenge, you are one of those things."

Lisbon just shook her head, "No! Your lying! Your always lying! You lie about everything, you lie to everyone! You lie to yourself!"

Jane didn't respond, she was right, well in a way, he did lie to everyone, including himself, but he wasn't lying about this, he really did care about her more than his thirst for revenge.

"You don't care about the team! You just lie to them! They are just the players in your little game with Red John! And when your done with them you can get rid of them, that's it isn't it? Your just like him, exactly the same, playing your little games, not caring who gets hurt, your no better than Red John!"

Jane knew he shouldn't engage in her conversation and aggravate her further, but what she had said really struck a nerve and he couldn't help but retaliate, "I am _nothing_ like Red John! Red John is a cold blooded killer who doesn't care about anyone! Red John is barely human! I _am_ human! I _do_ care! I care about you _so_ much! And you can't even see that! I'm not going to kill Red John, I'm going to bring him to justice your way, I am nothing like him!"

Breathing hard Jane stared Lisbon down, hoping she would see reason, but she just shook her head, her crazy eyes staring right back at him, hysterically she responded, "Maybe it would do us all a whole world of good if you would get the hell out of our lives and stop screwing with our heads! Just get out! I don't want to look at you!"

Jane was going to leave, but he hesitated, glancing at her, seeing a whole different person from the woman that he fell in love with, "LEAVE!" She yelled and flinching, Jane walked out of the room and out of the hospital.

He walked until he reached a park, in a spot he would take his family for picnics and he sunk down in the early morning grass, wet with dew and let himself really cry.

He cried for himself, he cried for his wife, he cried for his daughter, he cried for the team and he cried for Lisbon.

He didn't know how long he sat there in the grass for, but he was finally jolted back into the real world when his cell rang, a quick glance told him it was Grace and he answered, hoping for a breakthrough in the case.

"Hey Jane." Grace said softly, "I'm at the hospital, the Nurse said you left looking pretty upset this morning and wanted me to ask if Lisbon said anything upsetting to you?"

Jane cleared his throat, "Uh yeah, she did." He admitted.

Grace spoke again, "Well the Nurse said that this whole cold turkey thing is making her delusional, the drugs are messing with her head and she didn't mean anything that she said to you, she's been moved to a private room and isn't allowed visitors now, so if you're okay could you come back to the CBI this afternoon and have a look at some new information I found? We need your insight."

Jane smiled, the redhead knew him well, she knew the only thing that would keep him calm was looking for the person who did this to Lisbon, she also knew how much he hated sympathy and was being straight to the point, he really appreciated it, "Sure thing Grace, I'll go home and change and be at the office as soon as possible."

He could almost hear the smile in the young Agent's voice, "Thanks Jane, see you soon." She said, before hanging up.

With a sigh Jane stood up, realising that his suit was soaking wet, his head was a little bit clearer now and he decided that the best thing to do was go home, shower and go into work, he was going to catch the bastard who did this to Lisbon.

**To Be Continued**

**A/N - Two chapters in one night, woo! This is my sorry for not updating in so long, I know the chapter isn't that long, but I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thanks for Reading! xx**


	8. Minutes Feel Like Days

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 8 -Minutes Feel Like Days**

**A/N- YAY another update! Not a long chapter, but alot happens in it if that makes sense...Enjoy lovely readers!**

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**"Good afternoon Grace."

It was with a faked smile and a calm air that Patrick Jane greeted Grace Van Pelt; he strode into the bullpen confidently and sat down in an armchair by the rookies desk.

With one glance Jane knew that the brilliant redhead saw right through his façade and he shrugged, "We still have work to do." He said, hoping the topic would remain on work and stay away from Teresa Lisbon.

After a long moment Grace nodded, "Yes, we do." She agreed, spinning he chair around so that she could type into her computer.

"I've been trying to get a lock on the IP address of Cody Simpson's computer, once I've done that I can try and hack into it, but it's not going to be easy." Grace said, without looking up from the computer screen.

"From what we managed to get from the chips before Simpson shut them down completely we found out that he's a techno geek, he allegedly has underground technology labs all over California, Nevada and Arizona. That's why they call him the mole." Rigsby added, from his perch on Van Pelt's desk.

Jane hummed, deep in thought, "So he has lots of secret layers and a nickname? Sounds like a wannabe comic book villain." He mused.

Cho smirked a little, "Yeah, but in the comic books they aren't killers."

Jane frowned, "How many people has he killed?"

Rigsby glanced down at a file in his hands, "12 in total, he's killed 3 politicians, raped and murdered 6 women, stabbed a man to death and killed his two teenage daughters."

Janes face darkened, but Rigsby went on, "The murders are all so random that we think he might have a mental problem or he's just sick. There is no connection like there is with most serial killers."

"So he's dangerously blood-thirsty and dangerously smart." Jane concluded, eying the others with slight worry in his eyes.

Rigsby nodded, "Yeah, and as you know he's number 2 on America's most wanted list, you also know Red John is number one so he can't be any worse than Red John…right?"

Jane sighed, "I'm not sure anyone could be as cruel and cold as Red John Rigsby." He said honestly.

Grace groaned and hit the keyboard in annoyance, "Nothing!" She exclaimed.

Turning away from Rigsby, Jane asked, "What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to trace back to the IP address used to disable the chips, but I'm getting nothing, the computer keeps telling me no such IP address exists, he's too smart." She glared at the computer, as though willing it to do what she wanted and to her surprise, as well as the team's the computer beeped and a message appeared on the screen, "IP address found."

With a triumphant grin Grace frantically typed into the computer, but it beeped negatively and a message saying 'Unknown location." popped up on the screen. "Of course." Grace muttered, ignoring the confused looks the others gave her and continuing to pull up boxes and type into the computer.

"Uh, explanation for the technophobes?" Jane said, Graces head snapped up, "Oh sorry." She said, pulling up a file on the screen with a grin, "He used a back-up computer to hack into our files, not his main one, but I traced the IP address to his back-up and hacked into the computer files to find where the back-up got its information and I got another IP address, I'm about to try and trace the IP's signal."

"Good job Grace." Rigsby told the rookie with a smile, Lisbon had been right, Grace would have done well in the FBI.

"It will take a while to hack into his system and stay in long enough to get his location so you guys don't need to hang around." She informed them all with a Grace Van Pelt sweet smile.

Cho nodded, "I'm going to go and look over the files some more and see if I can find any family connections." He said, making his way back to his computer.

Rigsby moved his chair over to her desk, "I'll keep you company."

Grace smiled at Jane, "and what are you going to do?" She asked, but he knew that she already knew. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he took his cellphone out of his pocket, "I'm going to phone the hospital."

Rigsby and Grace shared a smile and Cho raised an eyebrow, "Of course you are." He said, but Jane ignored him and walked into Lisbon's office to make his phone call in peace.

"Hello, this is Nurse Sharon talking, how can I help you?"

"Uh, my name is Patrick Jane, I'm calling about a patient, Teresa Lisbon?" As confident a man that he was, one thing Patrick Jane hated was talking on the phone, he had always felt it was so awkward and conversation was so forced.

"Oh I'm sorry Sir, we can only disclose information to direct family members." The Nurse said, not sounding at all sorry.

Thinking on his feet Jane lied, he needed a way to find out how Lisbon was doing, he couldn't be kept in the dark when it came to that woman, "She's my fiancée, isn't that direct enough for you?"

"Oh I'm sorry Mr Jane, that information wasn't in your fiancée's file." The Nurse said.

"It was a mad, crazy rush after everything that happened, I left before I could answer any of the Doctors questions." Jane said, lying some more.

"That's understandable Mr Jane, I'm pleased to tell you that your fiancées condition is stabilising, but she still isn't stable enough for visitors, I'll let you know the moment something changes." The Nurses tone had a fake sweetness to it and it angered Jane, but he knew that the hospital wouldn't let him near Lisbon at the moment, all he could do was wait.

"Thank you Nurse." He said simply before ending the call and making his way back to the bullpen.

He headed straight for his couch and lay down in its solace, thinking of only Teresa Lisbon and praying (although the fact that he didn't believe n God made that hard) that she would be alright and pull through this and get back to her strict, stubborn, hard as nails self as soon as possible.

It must have shown on his face that he was distracted because Grace came over and tapped him on the shoulder, "Any luck?" He asked and she shook her head, "No, but something's wrong, with you." She added as she perched on his couch.

Jane shrugged, "Lisbon's going to kill me." He said simply.

Grace narrowed her eyes at the man, "What did you do?" She asked.

Jane smiled a little sheepishly at her, "I had to say I was her fiancée to get them to give me information."

Graces eyes widened, Cho smirked and Rigsby burst out laughing.

"Yup." Rigsby agreed, Grace nodded and Cho smiled a little, "She's gonna kill you alright."

The moment of humour was nice, it made everything feel normal again, until a loud beep from the computer made them all jump.

Grace hurried over and grinned around at them all, "Bingo!"

Jane jumped up from his couch, "What did you find?"

Grace shot him a triumphant look, "Cody Simpson, aka the Mole's master computer, hacking into it isn't going to be easy, but I tracked the IP address to Nevada and from looking at a Geographical map his underground layer is right underneath Area 51."

"Bingo indeed." Jane agreed, grinning proudly down at the woman who had become like a sister to him, they were one step closer to finding Lisbons tormentor and Jane had no intention to show him any mercy.

**To Be Continued**

**A/N - Yay another update! I'm doing so well, but I don't know how long this will last for! **

**In Chapter 9... The team get, yet another step closer to finding Cody Simpson!**

**Thanks for Reading! xx**


	9. The Mole is Unearthed

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 9 - The Mole is Unearthed**

**A/N - Hello guy! I have a long chapter for you! :D But i won't be able to post till saturday or sunday because i have a NAB for R.M.P.S on Friday, but then its the October holidays :D Hope you enjoy! xx**

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**"Alright team." A confident Grace Van Pelt said, looking around at her assault team, in her element, this was where she wanted to be, "We have one goal, we need to get into Cody Simpson's underground hideaway and find him, if he tries anything, anything at all, shoot to kill."

Grace looked around as the team of men and women nodded their acknowledgement. The team of 15 consisted of Wayne Rigsby, Kimball Cho and herself along with the entire organised crime unit. The rest of the team was made up of Agents the state of Nevada had sent to help with the bust.

Patrick Jane watched on in worry as the team left the serious crimes unit bullpen, Grace led the way and the assault team filed out after her. Rigsby, who was bringing up the rear turned and sent Jane a small, sympathetic smile before he too left.

Feeling helpless Jane watched from the window as the 3 SUVs zoomed out of the CBI carpark, sitting back down and looking around the empty space he realised how alone he was.

He, being a consultant, had been told that there was no way in hell he was assisting the assault team as this was one of the most risky moves ever made by the CBI, yes, Hightower's own words. He, of course, being Patrick Jane, had yelled and glared and battled with the woman as he tried to get his way, but she stood her ground and said it was a downright no.

So he had been forced to sit here, all alone, all he could do was wait whilst the people he had come to love like a family were out risking their lives, if it had been Red John, he wouldn't have listened to Hightower, but he understood why he was banned from this mission and although he was annoyed about it, this one time he would respect Hightower's decision.

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"This is it." Grace informed Rigsby in a slightly panicked whisper, they had just found a very well hidden wooden trapdoor in the ground, it was about a mile away from Area 51, but according to their map the 'layer' was directly underneath Area 51.

"It can't be." Rigsby whispered back, "It's too far away."

"Unless it's a tunnel?" Grace asked, looking at the hatch with more than a little uncontained fear.

"That would make sense, they do call him the mole." Rigsby reasoned, in a whisper. Grace bit her lip and Rigsby nodded, understanding that she wanted him to take over.

With a hand motion Rigsby got the rest of the team to come closer, "It looks like this tunnel is going to lead to Simpson's base, but its going to be about a mile of walking or crawling depending on the size of the tunnel."

The team looked around and at each other uncertain of their selves at this huge change in the oh so well planned out bust.

"Change of plan then." Cho announced, confusing the entire assault team, Rigsby and Grace included. He walked forward, "The best way to deal with this is to send a few people down so that they can get in subtly whilst the rest of the team finds the entrance in Area 51 that goes down."

The group all nodded and watched as he walked up and down in front of them, thinking, "I'll go down this entrance with Agents Van Pelt and Grove, the 3 of us are small enough to manoeuvre around the tunnel easily. The rest of you will go to Area 51, led by Agent Rigsby and find the second entrance, good luck."

Rigsby nodded and shot Grace a slightly worried look before he made his way back to the vans with the assault team behind him.

**

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**

It had been an hour exactly since the team left, Jane stared blankly at the clock, wishing he had the power to speed it up, so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear footsteps in the bullpen until they were right in front of him.

"You know why I couldn't let you go, don't you?"

Jane looked up, pulled out of his own little world, Hightower was standing in front of him, leaning against Cho's desk and looking down at him thoughtfully.

"Yes." He said, testing her.

She smiled a little, "Other than the obvious reason, being that you have no idea how to fire a gun and you're not a trained Agent."

"Of course." Jane said, still staying vague with her.

"You know what I'm talking about. I couldn't let you go because this mission involved Lisbon, it's become apparent that you care for her in a different way from the way you care about the team. Someone hurt her and your angry about that, letting you go on that mission would be very reckless of me. You understand that right?" Hightower asked, in a show of weakness which was rare for her, she was so determined for him to understand, but he had proved in the past to her that he didn't like her methods, she knew that, so what was she trying to do here?

Suddenly, as if a speech bubble had appeared in mid air a light went on in Jane's head and he understood exactly what she was doing. He looked up at her, confusion in his eyes and as panic flashed through hers he knew he was right.

"The only cases you don't let me go on are Red John cases because they are personal and theres a chance I'll do something stupid, fair enough I understand that, but I go anyway. This is about Lisbon and although I do care about her and I do want to hurt the guy I could contain myself, something tells me you know more than you are telling me."

Hightower sighed, "I have reason to believe that Cody Simpson is Red John, posing as another serial killer to keep focus away from him as Red John, people know him as the mole. It's clever and it's sneaky, but if we catch him today it could be an amazing day for the CBI."

Jane stood up, furious, but Hightower held out a hand, "Let me finish Patrick. I couldn't let you go because if I did we may not have brought him back alive or you for that matter and its important that we put him through a trial and do things the right way. I'm sorry Patrick, I understand that you must be feeling-"

Jane stood up, striding towards the door, "You can't go after them!" She called, but turning from his position at the door of the bullpen he said, "I'm going to the hospital."

Hightower nodded, but Jane didn't see it, he was already in the elevator, not even glancing back at her. She sighed, she had known he wouldn't react well and she had known that he would be angry at her for a long time, but in the end she hoped this would do him some good, him and Lisbon.

**

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"You ready?" Cho asked Grace, who glanced at the trapdoor which slight hesitation, but nodded all the same.

Cho knew she was terrified, but he also knew she could handle it so with a nod he pulled the trapdoor open and looked into the tunnel beyond it. After his inspection of the tunnel he announced that it was safe, but that they would have to be careful all the same.

"I'll go first, Van Pelt goes next and Grove will bring up the rear, okay?" Cho asked, the two women nodded and Cho crawled into the tunnel. Suppressing the urge to run away screaming Grace followed suit with Agent Grove right behind her.

Crawling through the tunnel was terrifying, it was pitch black and silent. There wasn't the sound of traffic or the wind or rain, there was just silence and without the aid of a flashlight there was blackness and nothing else. All the trio could do was feel their way through the tunnel and try not to be too loud in case someone was listening for intruders.

Grace was scared to death, the experience reminded me her of a lesson she got in high school in her history class. The topic had been World War 1 and she had gotten the subject of mining to write an essay on. She remembered being told that the miners would come to the battlefields and dig a tunnel from their trench to the enemies in order to invade the trench or plant explosives, that thought alone scared her. However the part she remembered vividly was finding out that the miners would occasionally stop and listen for someone in their tunnel, as the British and German tunnels sometimes met, it was pitch black and all you could do was feel for them, if you touched their shoulder and didn't recognise their patch you knew they were the enemy and you killed them, simple as that.

The longer they crawled for the more Grace expected someone to kill them, surely a tunnel that easy to find would be heavily guarded if this guy was a mining expert, explaining the mole nickname…

But they travelled further and the tunnel got wider until they could stand in it and still they heard nothing and saw no one. After what felt like hours of crawling, but had probably only been about 30 minutes they reached a huge, heavy metal door.

"You need a code to open it." Cho whispered to the others, Grove frowned, "C4?" She asked quietly.

Cho shook his head, "Wouldn't work, it would bring this whole tunnel down on our heads."

Grace grinned, "I thought this might have happened so I downloaded the access code onto this." She pulled out a card from her vest pocket and got her gun at the ready, Cho and Grove followed suit. Bracing herself Grace swiped the card on the panel and the door slid open.

The team of three ran into the room, guns aiming around it, only to find out that it was abandoned. There was a lot of old equipment in the room, all looking as though it was from the 80's, none of it was online and there was just one flickering light on the ceiling of the complex.

"What now?" Grace asked in confusion, they had been so sure this was it.

We keep going." Cho answered and with his gun held out in front of him he walked through the open door into another abandoned room, this one had beds and looked more like a lab.

"This is really creepy." Grace whispered as Cho led them up a set of metal stairs, there was still only silence, it seemed like the whole place was deserted. The stairs ended and they found themselves in what looked like a hospital room, there were corpses, long dead on every bed.

Graces eyes widened and with his spare hand Cho grasped hers, pulling her gently through the room and only letting go when they were at the next set of stairs.

Cho motioned for them to stop and pointed upwards then to his ear, understanding what he meant they listened and their ears were no longer met with silence. They heard tapping, like on a keyboard coming from the floor above.

More cautious than ever and with their guns still held out they walked up the stairs and into another lab. To their dismay this lab was also abandoned, but the technology was very new and still online. The tapping they had heard was the computers, the screens were cameras in black and white. They were showing images of Jane at a crime scene, Jane and Lisbon out for lunch, Jane and Kristina on a date and on the last screen there was a video playing of a Red John case and Jane.

Drawing in a deep breath Cho and Grace realised what was happening, "He's Red John isn't he?" Grace asked, seeing Cho wearing the same horrified look as she was.

"Looks like it." Cho replied in a quiet voice, but a second later he was more determined than ever, "Lets find him." He said, walking towards the next set of stairs with his gun held out in front of him, the two women followed.

At the top of the last flight of stairs they found themselves in a circular room with a trapdoor at the top, there was no ladder leading to it though which seemed rather strange. The walls of the circular room were covered in photos, some colour, some black and white of Patrick Jane, there were of few of Lisbon and the team too and even some of Minnelli or Hightower, but they all had Jane in them.

In the centre of the room there was a large red chair, its back facing the trio.

"CBI. We know who you are… Red John." Cho declared, loud and confident.

There was a laugh as the chair spun around, "I'm surprised Agent Rigsby isn't here."

Cho stepped back, but kept his gun steady, Grace gasped and Agent Groves eyes widened. The man in the chair didn't even look human. His face was so badly scarred that it didn't look real. There were scars running right along his face in all directions and no skin on the right hand side of his face, when he smiled it looked like something from a horror movie.

He watched their reactions from his position in his red chair, "Not what you expected?" For a crazy serial killer he seemed remarkably calm.

"So you are Red John and the Mole?" Cho asked, keeping his gun on the man and not taking his eyes off him.

"I am indeed, a good cover don't you think?" He asked with a chuckle, when no one answered he continued, "I am rather disappointed that Mr Jane couldn't come along, I expect he won't leave the bedside of Miss Lisbon." He chuckled again, but it was bitter this time, "Love." He scoffed, "Doesn't do anyone any good. Look what love did to me!" He gestured at his face and Grace couldn't help herself from asking, "Love did this to you?"

Red John nodded, "It did. I had a wife and a child once too, just like Mr. Jane did, but my wife had an arrogant lover, a man just like Patrick Jane." He stood from his seat and began to walk the length of the room as he told his story, "I found out of course and my wife denied it, but the lover had his claim on her and convinced her to do what was best for herself. She set fire to the house and left, my daughter was 6 years old when the fire killed her, I came out unrecognisable and fled, I've been assumed dead for years now and my first victim was my wife, my second? Her lover."

It was all starting to make sense now, the pieces were all fitting together perfectly, he wanted to punish Jane in the way he had been punished so he killed his wife and his daughter who was the same age his daughter had been when she died. He was a messed up, crazy murderer, but in a sense Grace could understand him a little bit better now.

"You're under arrest for the murders of Angela Ruskin Jane, Charlotte Anne Jane, Jared Renfrew, Emma Plaskett, Towland Morning, Tom Hicks, Rebecca Wilson, Jacqueline Sandoval, Ruth Jackson, Dylan Trey and a hell of a lot more." Cho told the man in his most aggressive voice.

It didn't faze Red John however, he just grinned, "It's not going to be that easy." He told them, but before Cho could take action the trap door in the roof burst open and one by one the team jumped down holding their guns at the ready until eventually Red John was completely surrounded.

Rigsby, Cho and Grace did the honours, cuffing him and making sure he climbed the ladder that the Area 51 staff had supplied, they took him to the van and stayed with him in the back. No one spoke, but Van Pelt couldn't help but think to herself, he's not so cocky now, is he?

**To Be Continued!**

**A/N - Yay I wrote a long chapter AND it had a twist! Bonus! I have a NAB in RME on Friday so don't expect much in the next few days, but after that I'm on my school holidays for 2 weeks woopa!**

**Thanks for reading guys! xx**


	10. Any Minute All the Pain Will Stop

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 10 - Any Minute All the Pain Will Stop**

**A/N - I lied. I said nothing till Sat/Sun, but I really wanna finish this so I can start on my new fic, "Dear Teresa." So here is another chapter and as usual, I don't own the mentalist or for that matter the name of the chapter, Take That own the wonderful song "Patience" I just singing it really badly! :3 Hope you enjoy! Xx**

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Patrick Jane strode through the hospital with a determined air about him, he was going to see Lisbon whether the Doctors said he could or not.

"I'm here for Teresa Lisbon." Jane said when he reached the desk. The woman glanced up at him and typed something into her computer, "Mr. Jane?" She asked, Jane nodded, "That's me."

The Nurse glanced at the screen again before smiling up at Jane, "Your fiancée was moved out of isolation this morning Mr. Jane. She's in room 403 on the 4th floor."

Jane actually grinned, his life was falling apart at the moment, but Lisbon had been moved out of her isolated ward which could only mean she was getting better, that one little thing made his whole world seem so much brighter. "Thank you." Jane said happily to the nurse as he practically skipped to the elevator.

The elevator ride up to the 4th floor seemed to take forever, but when he walked out he spotted room 403 right across the hall, he walked over, nervous and happy at the same time and entered the room. It was the complete opposite of how it had been the last time he had seen her. She had been crazy, with wild eyes and a manic way about her. Now she was peaceful, she was lying in the white hospital bed, her raven hair spread out all around her head, she looked the vision of perfection.

With a soft smile on his face Jane sat on the chair by her bed, took her hand in his own and watched her for a moment. She was breathing deeply and he was glad to see she only had one wire attached to her arm, before there had been so many wires. She wasn't on life support, just meds for the pain and suddenly Jane's life felt so much better.

As he watched Lisbon breathe in her sleep he didn't care that Cody Simpson was Red John, he didn't care that he wasn't on that mission because he was here instead and for him, here was the best place to be at the moment.

"I've missed you Lisbon." Jane whispered, knowing Lisbon was so lost in sleep that she wouldn't hear him, but wanting to speak anyway.

"We've all missed you, the team doesn't function as well without you and I _can't _function without you." He tried not to get teary as he squeezed her hand lightly and gently kissed her forehead. He lay his head next to her arm and felt the exhaustion of the events of the past few days kick in and with Lisbons hand in his own he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

**

* * *

**

The assault team, led by Grace, marched proudly into the serious crimes unit bullpen where Hightower awaited them.

"We caught Red John, aka Cody Simpson, aka the Mole." Grace told her, Hightower smiled, "Good work Agent Van Pelt." She said before turning to Rigsby, "Get him in an investigation room and lock the door, we are not letting him escape."

Rigsby nodded, "Yes Ma'am." Rigsby along with a few of the assault team went to follow the Boss's orders and the rest of the assault team filed out to disarm themselves, after a shuffle of people leaving only Hightower, Grace and Cho remained.

"I'm going to call Jane and-"

"We'll tell him." Grace interrupted as Hightower got her cellphone out, "Uh, Cho and I will tell him, if you let us go and visit Lisbon in the hospital, that's where he is right?"

Hightower smiled a little, "Yes, when he's not here these days he's there. You can go visit Lisbon and tell Jane the news, but I need you back here soon to deal with this."

Grace nodded, "Thank you Ma'am." She told her Boss and she meant it.

Hightower nodded, "Take Rigsby with you, oh and tell Lisbon I'm asking for her."

Cho nodded, "We will, thank you Ma'am."

Hightower nodded once more and watched as Grace and Cho went to get Rigsby before leaving in the elevator. She had always been taught that caring too much was a problem in her line of work, but the more she worked with the CBI Serious Crimes unit, the more she started to change her mind.

**

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**

The team walked into Lisbon's hospital room to a very adorable scene, Lisbon and Jane, both asleep, hand in hand.

Grace grinned at Rigsby, "That's so sweet." She whispered as she placed the flowers they had bought Lisbon on the bedside table and put their get well card and box of chocolates next to them.

"Do you think we should go?" Rigsby asked, glancing at the private scene between his boss and the consultant.

Grace shook her head, still smiling, "One of them will wake up soon." She said as she sat down on the sofa in the room, the other two joined her, "So does this mean Boss and Jane are finally gonna get together?" Rigsby asked Grace who shrugged, "Maybe, its not against the rules." She reasoned.

"Its not?" Rigsby asked, Grace nodded and was about to reply, but Cho did it for her, "It was against the rules with you two because you are both Agents, but Jane's just a consultant."

Rigsby looked bewildered and Grace rolled her eyes, "Did you read the CBI rulebook you got when you joined?"

The tall man scoffed, "No." At the look on Graces face he asked in surprise, "Did you?"

"Yes." Grace hissed, "And Cho did too!"

Rigsby turned his attention to Cho, "Seriously?"

Cho shrugged, "So?"

Rigsby scoffed again, "Rubbish."

Grace rolled her eyes at the man for the second time, "Be quiet Rigsby, they're asleep!"

"It's kinda hard to sleep with you lot bickering." Jane announced, making Grace and Rigsby jump, Cho just glanced at him unsurprised.

Jane grinned at his team, "How was the mission?"

Grace glanced at Rigsby who shook his head and looked pointedly at Cho, seeing no way out Cho answered, "Good. We found the underground hideout and we found a massive lab with computers that showed you on security cameras everywhere, as well as a massive room with pictures of you on every wall and we cornered Red John. He's at the CBI right now."

Jane's eyes widened, "You caught him?"

Rigsby nodded, "Yeah, looks like he's gonna get the death penalty too."

Jane looked confused and awed at the same time, it was almost as if his brain didn't know whether he should be happy that Red John had been caught or angry that he hadn't been the one to find him and kill him, he wasn't going to get his families revenge now and he didn't know how he felt about that.

He was going to leave, leave Lisbons side, leave the hospital, go for a walk and maybe never come back, but as he stood up and tried to slip his hand out of Lisbons she grasped it tighter in her sleep and in a pained moan said, "Patrick."

Immediately Janes eyes softened and he was by her side again, sitting in the hard plastic seat, vowing silently not to move, looking at her with such adoration that it almost made Grace cry.

"I'm not going anywhere Lisbon." Jane mumbled against her hand and for once he believed it himself. He saw that she was more important than Red John, she always had been. She was more important than revenge and really by moving on and loving again he was taunting the man because he thought that Jane couldn't be happy again, but he could, Lisbon had made him realise that.

He saw that his wife and child wouldn't want him to become a murderer for them, they would want him to move on and live a normal life and he would do that, for them, for himself and for Lisbon.

He was fed up living for Red John, he was living for himself now.

Jane was drawn out of his epiphany when Grace chuckled, she was looking down at him with a grin on her face looking very mischievous.

"What?" Jane asked cautiously.

Graces smile only widened, "You read peoples minds and see their emotions every day. For once you need to read yourself Patrick Jane."

Jane looked at her like she was crazy for a moment before looking back at Lisbon, the moment his eyes fell on her face a small smile tugged at his lips, he heard Grace chuckle, but he didn't mind that time because in his heart he knew she was right.

**To Be Continued!**

**A/N - The next chapter will be the last one, Lisbon wakes up and stuff happens =] Might do an epilogue after Chapter 11, but I'm not sure.**

**Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, thank you! xx**


	11. The Most Amazing Wake Up Call

**The Cruellest Prison**

**Chapter 11 - The Most Amazing Wake-Up Call**

**A/N - This is the last chapter guys! Thanks so much for following this fic, really hope you have enjoyed reading it! xx**

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**Teresa Lisbons immediate thought upon waking up was the smell; she smelled something lovely and felt something soft tickling her cheek. Opening her heavy eyelids she saw something blonde by her head. She chuckled as she looked at the man, fast asleep, his mouth open a little, looking so peaceful, his hair was a mess and had been the tickling that had woken her up, but she could get used to waking up to that.

She looked down at her hand and smiled softly as she saw Janes hand clasped in it, still rather tight for a man in such a deep sleep. Her next thoughts were of the fact she was in a hospital and that her head was sore and her eyelids felt heavy and she felt as though her legs would be like led if she tried to move them. Frowning and closing her eyes to block out the bright light she tried to remember how she had ended up in this hospital bed.

Lisbon remembered Jane saying that questioning was boring and going off to cause trouble, as usual. After she had finished with the questioning she went to find Jane, assuming he would be lurking around one of the crime scenes, but someone had stopped her from going along the corridor.

*Flashback*

"_Excuse me Miss Lisbon, the bodies are being taken away at the moment so that the families can begin to prepare for the burials, no one is authorised to be in this corridor at the moment." An annoying man in a suit told her._

_Lisbon groaned, if this corridor was shut off where the hell was Jane? She decided to check the next floor up where the other crime scene had been, she got out of the elevator and someone grabbed her from behind then dragged her to a hotel room and forced something horrible into her nose and her mouth, she blacked out before she saw his face but it was a man, his hands were strong and rough, he was definitely a man. _

*End Flashback*

Lisbon opened her eyes for the second time, her head a little clearer now; someone had drugged her which explained why she felt like she had a massive hangover. She was dying for a glass of water and some aspirin.

The mass of blonde hair next to her moved and Patrick Jane looked up at her with sleepy eyes. Lisbon couldn't stop the giggle that escaped from her mouth when she saw his hair; it was sticking up in all directions making him look like a madman.

Jane blushed a tiny little bit and smoothed his hair down; Lisbon was still chuckling when she eventually spoke, "Good morning sleepyhead."

Jane smiled softly at her, her voice was a little croaky, but she was his Lisbon alright, making fun of him already and she had only been up for minutes.

Jane handed her a bottle of water, "Welcome back to the land of the living my dear." He said as he smiled in that strange little way at her.

It was a smile she hadn't seen before, not a teasing smile or a mischievous smile, just a genuine, happy smile and it was beautiful.

After a second Lisbon realised she was staring and blushing deeply took the bottle of water from him and drank deeply from it, "Thank you." She said as she put it down on the table, sounding much more like herself now.

"Your welcome." Jane said, "Do you remember how you got here?"

Lisbon nodded, "Yeah, some son of a bitch drugged me."

Jane chuckled, "And it wasn't pretty."

Lisbon frowned, "What do you mean? Was it a close call?"

Jane bit his lip a little, "Sort of, for one night it was touch and go, but you weren't exactly…yourself…so to speak."

Lisbons eyes widened in horror, "Oh God, what did I do?" She asked.

Jane shook his head, "You didn't do anything, you just _said_ some things that were…well…a little close to home for me."

Lisbons wide eyes now looked extremely worried, "Jane I don't understand, please tell me what I did."

Jane sighed, he really didn't want to repeat the things she had said to him, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice now, "The Doctor said going cold turkey would be hard and that it would make you delusional and that you would say things you didn't mean, but I didn't listen to him and I went in to see you and you said…some things."

"What things?" Lisbon asked, looking worried in a different sort of way now, not panicked as she had been when she thought she had hurt someone, but anxious like she had said something she hadn't wanted too, but really meant…

Jane cleared his throat nervously, "I told you I cared and I wanted you to get better, but you said that I had never cared about you or the team and you thought for some crazy reason that I wanted to kill you. You kept saying that when it came down to it you weren't going to let me kill Red John and that as a response I would kill you and you…you really believed it." Jane tried to keep his voice steady, taking a break to catch his breath.

Lisbon reached out and grabbed his other hand, holding both of his hands in hers she smiled softly at him, urging him to continue. He nodded, understanding her unspoken words, "And then you said it would do everyone, you and the team that is, a whole lot of good if I got out of your lives forever."

At this last line Lisbons wide eyes got slightly teary and in a very uncharacteristic motion she leaned over and enveloped Jane in a hug, "Life without you would be the complete opposite of good." She whispered, trying to keep the tears at bay, "It would be hell on Earth." She hugged him tighter, only letting go when she had her emotions under control.

"I'm sorry." She said when she finally released him, but Jane only nodded, "I know, you were delusional, you didn't mean it."

Lisbon nodded, "But it still hurt?"

Jane was about to deny it, but when Lisbon sent him an unconvinced look he knew she saw right through his façade anyway, "Yeah…a bit." He conceded.

Lisbon nodded, conveying with her gaze how apologetic she was, "Where are the team?" She asked, seeing that they had left some gifts on her bedside table.

Jane laughed softly, "Yeah, about that. You've missed quite a lot while you've been sleeping and going cold turkey…"

Lisbon frowned, "To do with the case you mean? Is it solved?" She narrowed her eyes at the man as he laughed again, joyously.

"Yes to do with the case and yes it is solved, but that's not the only thing." He looked at her with a slight smile, "You know Cody Simpson, aka the Mole?"

Lisbon nodded, "You got him?" She asked, sounding very impressed.

"We did indeed, all thanks to Grace by the way, she was brilliant, practically led the team for you." Jane added, Lisbon grinned, obviously very proud of the young Agent, "She will be a great team leader one day, she reminds me of myself when I was a rookie Agent."

Janes smile widened just at seeing Lisbon grin like that, "But that isn't the best part Lisbon." Jane said, catching Lisbons attention once more, "Cody Simpson is the Mole _and_ Red John and he's being held at a top security base until he gets his trial and most likely the death penalty."

Lisbons eyes widened in complete shock, "Red John has been caught? You caught Red John?"

Jane grinned, nodding, "Well technically Grace, Rigsby, Cho and the assault team caught Red John. I was sitting here talking to you while you were unconscious."

Lisbon looked at him in both suspicion and shock, "Are you okay with that? That you weren't there when he was caught? Have you seen him since he was caught?"

Jane shook his head, "Yes, I'm okay with it and no I haven't seen him, I don't want too if I'm honest." He saw how confused she was and decided to save her brain from exploding, "The incident with you made me realise a lot of things I should have realised a long time ago. Being happy is more important than chasing after ghosts and having someone to love is something I would never give up to have my revenge. Something you taught me Teresa."

Lisbon seemed to be having trouble processing all this information so soon after waking up for the first time in days, "Are you saying that you love me Patrick Jane?"

Jane grinned, "I think I might just be."

His reaction made her jaw drop, his grin only widened at this and when she could finally speak again she smiled and said, "You know what, some crazy part of me trusted you when I knew you would still do stupid stunts and some crazy part of me fell in love with you when I knew it would be a nightmare, but I guess I'm in love with you too."

Jane chuckled, "Well I knew _that. _Nice to hear it in your words though." He teased her, causing her to playfully smack him on the arm, quite hard for someone who had been asleep for days.

"Oh by the way, we're engaged." Jane added.

Lisbon glared at him, "What?"

Jane shrugged, "Needed a way to get in and see you, direct family only rule and all that."

Lisbons glare softened and she teased him instead, "That desperate to see me were you?" She asked with a cheeky smile.

Jane didn't actually care anymore; he shrugged and smiled, "I needed to know you were alright." He said simply and all Lisbon had to do was look into his eyes to know he was telling the truth

"Then I forgive you for pretending to be my fiancée." She told him with a humorous smile.

Jane grinned, "I knew you would." He told her as he climbed up next to her on the bed, "I missed you." He told her quietly as she snuggled into him, ready for sleep again already.

Lisbon smiled softly at his words, "I'm sorry for being horrible to you."

"Don't be." Jane mumbled, "Just sleep."

Lisbon could easily obey those orders, but there was still one more little thing nagging at her.

"Patrick." She said softly, her reply being a tired, "Mmm?"

"Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Lisbon asked in a quiet voice.

Jane looked up at her and smiled genuinely at her, his blue eyes sparkling, "Yes." He replied and with a smile of her own Lisbon said, "I'm glad." Before finally succumbing to sleep.

Her last thoughts as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber were that she wanted to fall asleep like this every night, in the arms of Patrick Jane because nothing had ever felt more right to her than here right now with the man who drove her crazy and made her deliriously happy all at once.

**The End!**

**A/N - Yay! All my fics that were on the go for the Mentalist are finished! I have 3 new ones in the making which I shall tell you a little about here…**

"**Billy Don's Ford" is based on a country song, "That Song in My Head" by Julianne Hough and is about Lisbon going back to her tiny little hometown for a case, she has secrets there and Jane wants to know what they are.**

"**Dear Teresa" is loosely based on the movie "Dear John." Lisbon is sacked from the CBI and has no idea what to do so she joins the army & she and Jane keep in touch through letters whilst she's away.**

"**The Edge of Heaven" is strongly based on the movie "Just Like Heaven." Lisbon is in an accident and ends up in a coma, but for some reason only Jane can see her.**

**So if any of those appeal to you keep an eye out for them and I would like to thank EVERYONE who ever reviewed, favourited, added this to their story alerts or even just read this fic.**

**Oh and that last part, "Everythings going to change now, isn't it?" - "Yes." Thats from Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, don't own it! JK & Warner Bro's do, just borrowed it! :D**

**I hope you enjoyed reading it!**

**Peace out, Holly x**


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